How to Add a Domain or Subdomain in DirectAdmin

One hosting account can serve more than one website. A freelancer can host three client sites on a single plan, and a shop can run its main site on yourbrand.pk and a booking app on app.yourbrand.pk. DirectAdmin handles both cases with two tools: Domain Setup for extra domains and Subdomain Management for subdomains.

Addon domain, subdomain or pointer: which one do you need?

An addon domain is a second, completely separate domain hosted on the same account, such as clientsite.com next to youragency.pk. It has its own folder, its own email addresses and its own SSL certificate. DirectAdmin simply calls these domains; the term addon domain comes from other panels, and we use it on our plan pages because most people know it.

A subdomain is a prefix on a domain you already host, like blog.yourbrand.pk. It gets its own folder but shares the parent domain's DNS and email. A domain pointer is different again: it makes a second domain display the same website as an existing one, which is useful when you own both the .pk and the .com version of your name.

To add a pointer, select the existing domain at the top of DirectAdmin, open the Domain Pointers page under Account Manager, and add the second name there. Pointers do not count as addon domains on our plans, since they add no separate website. The second name still needs its DNS pointed at your account, exactly like a full domain.

How many domains your plan allows

The number of extra domains and subdomains depends on the plan. The limits below are the same ones shown on our hosting plans page. Your main domain does not count towards the addon limit.

Each extra WordPress site also needs its own database, so count databases as well as domains when you plan. If Domain Setup refuses to add a domain, you have reached the plan limit; upgrading to the next tier takes effect on the same account with no migration.

Bandwidth and storage are shared across every site on the account rather than split per domain. That is convenient, but it also means one busy client site can use up the allowance for all of them. Check the Site Summary / Statistics / Logs page under System Info & Files once a month so nobody is surprised at renewal.

Add a domain with Domain Setup

You need to own the domain already. ProWebHosting does not sell domains, so register it with any registrar first, then come back to DirectAdmin.

Point the domain's DNS at your account

Adding the domain in DirectAdmin tells the server to answer for it. The domain itself still needs to send visitors to that server, and that happens at your registrar. You have two options.

The simpler option is to set the domain's nameservers at the registrar to the nameservers in your ProWebHosting welcome email. DirectAdmin then manages every record for the domain, including the mail records, through DNS Management. The second option is to keep the registrar's DNS and add an A record pointing the domain and www at your account's IP address. Use this when the domain's email is hosted elsewhere, for example on Google Workspace, and you do not want to move those records.

Changes at the registrar take anywhere from a few minutes to a day or two to reach every network. Our DirectAdmin DNS guide explains how to check propagation and what each record does.

Whichever option you pick, cover the www version too. With nameservers pointed at us, DirectAdmin creates the www record automatically; with an A record at the registrar you need a second record, or a CNAME from www to the bare domain. Email for the new domain needs an MX record pointing at mail.clientsite.com, which DirectAdmin also creates when it hosts the DNS.

Create a subdomain with Subdomain Management

Subdomains are a tidy way to keep a staging copy of a site, host a web app separately from the marketing pages, or give a client a preview before their own domain is ready. Each one can have its own free SSL certificate.

Deleting a subdomain from the same page removes its DNS record and its web configuration, so move any files you want to keep first. A subdomain can also be redirected elsewhere with Site Redirection under Account Manager, which is a quick way to send shop.yourbrand.pk to a marketplace listing until the shop is built.

Where the files live: document roots

Every domain and subdomain has a document root, the folder whose contents are served when someone visits. Upload the wrong site to the wrong folder and the wrong domain shows it, so it pays to know the layout before opening File Manager.

Because a subdomain folder sits inside the parent's public_html by default, keep subdomain folder names different from any folder your main site uses. If you would rather keep a subdomain's files entirely outside the parent site, ask support about changing its document root, or add it as a full domain instead. Our File Manager and FTP guide shows how to upload files into each of these locations.

Finish the setup: SSL, email and WordPress

• Issue a free certificate for the new domain or subdomain from SSL Certificates under Account Manager once its DNS points at your account.
• Create email accounts for an addon domain from E-mail Manager after selecting that domain; subdomains share the parent domain's mail.
• Install WordPress on the new domain with the app installer in your DirectAdmin account, choosing the right domain in the installer's dropdown.
• Keep an eye on total storage and databases in the DirectAdmin dashboard, since every site on the account draws from the same plan.
• Add each new domain or subdomain to Google Search Console as its own property, because search engines treat them as separate sites.

Frequently asked questions